Eco-Worthy 12v solar panels, Now drifting to... mono vs poly

jrnymn7 wrote:
Thanks BFL!

I"m only a few hours from Barrie. (I worked there for a bit last winter.) So I'll look into what they have.

??? Are there any advantages to the 24 volters, other than cost?

Not for a portable. The single 230w I have is fairly big and heavy but workable. In my case it doesn't matter. With the seasonal site, I don't have to deal with it very often. Two 120s would be much easier to man-handle and store in the rig when moving between sites.

For roof install the single 24w takes up less real estate square footage than two 12s would, but then you need one big open spot for it between vents etc up there where you might have two open but smaller spots available.

That PL30 (sp?) is the same as the Solar30 that costs less, but the PL30 has a temp comp antenna on a long wire that could be advantageous compared with the on board antenna of the Solar30.

the thing that makes the 230w and the Eco-W worth it is the low cost of the Eco-W for the required MPPT to go with the 24v panel. Most MPPTs are three times as much, which gives a price advantage to the 12s and their cheap controller as long as you can get the 12s for a low enough price. You can't plan for that since any of all that could be on sale and skew your whole calculation and plan when you spot the sale. It's crazy out there in solar land! :(

I have a pretty picture of my 230w somewhere in its contraption I twirl to face the sun during the day whenever I am passing by the thing. The 130w had a contraption too that I used sometimes, but I sold that 130 when it turned out the 230w was plenty.